COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS Franchise Complaints

COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS Franchise complaints include exploitive practices toward young franchisees, inadequate training, exorbitant and hidden fees, unkept promises, cult-like corporate culture, underpayment of workers, and “thuggish management.”

The UnhappyFranchisee.Com post COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS: Great Opportunity or Franchise Scam? generated dozens of comments, many from former franchisees who said College Pro Painters left them heavily in debt.

One called his decision to join College Pro Painters “the worst decision of my life.”

Have you had an experience – good or bad – with College Pro Painters?  Please share a comment below.

“Alfred Griffin” wrote:

…in ’89 everything changed,… Greg Clark the visionary founder sold out for peanuts and ownership moved to a public corp, heavily in debt and full of thuggish management. It was at this moment that the vision for the company changed into a conveyor belt of naive student types paying ever more unreasonable rates of royalty and failing in larger and larger numbers. Territories were carved up, fees for every item under the sun were introduced and smoke and mirror ways of convincing a 19 year old kid that he actually “made 10,000 last summer” were rolled out (gee, how come i have nothing in the bank and owe you guys $4000?)

“Pissed” wrote:

College Pro Painters is an awful company. They nearly forced me to drop out of college. Think about this. You get off for summer break, work your butt off all summer long, and I actually lose money that summer as a manager. Then I had to go back to school broke, and continue studying. It was an awful experience, and it still pisses me off that CPP took advantage of me. I know other people that ended up dropping out of school as a direct result of CPP. The only thing I learned was not to trust anyone from this company…

“Brandon” wrote:

I worked from May until September and ran a $50,000 business and actually barely broke even. In fact, I probably lost money in the end. How would you feel if you booked and produced $50,000 and never saw a penny go into your bank account? Instead, I paid College Pro $35,000, my painters $7,000, and my paint cost me $8000. They only reason my employee cost was only $7,000 is because I painted all summer with them for free! I never saw my friends, had my phone ringing non stop because customers were unhappy, and college pro always got their money from me at the end of every week…

To this day, I do everything in my power to talk to and meet with people who have an interest in working for this company. Take this as a lifesaving warning. DO NOT EVER AFFILIATE YOUSELF WITH COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS!!!!!!!

“SCAM!” wrote:

PLEASE READ

I was a FM [Franchise Manager] in 2012 and it was awful. I went in as a FRESHMEN in college and those fat cats at the big office convinced me that I was better than everyone else and I should work for them.

So I did. And it was THE biggest mistake of my life.

First of all, I was always struggling with money to make ends meet. I was from out of state with no place to live and no transportation. I had to buy my own car and rent out an apartment. Every month paying rent was a challenge because CPP [College Pro Painters] never taught me how to deal with money AT ALL. Even though that is at the core of any business, the only part that was emphasized was the part where THEY make money off of MY hard work.

And let me tell you, it was a lot of hard work.

I went through all the weird cultish training and parties where all they do is reinforce how much better I am than non-FMs and no time was spent explaining anything of real value to any of us.

CPP LIED TO ME. They let me hire high school kids even though they knew I didn’t have the permit to do so. I’m hit with $500 fine and 3 counts against my record from L&I [Labor & Industry] so thanks College Pro, ya did good to me on that one.

CPP CALLED ME A LIAR. My GM was really nice at first but I noticed that he was a real slave driver. There were so many sketchy things going on but I was 18 how was I supposed to know, I was counting on CPP to teach me what I should and shouldn’t do (that’s how they marketed it to me! more lies!).

CPP STOLE MY MONEY. I was $7k in debt by the end of the summer even though I produced good work, all because of the bullshit “royalty” fees. AND CPP failed to mention that I had an additional overhead fee with Sherwin Williams for supplies that came to about $1k which I was expected to pay even though I stopped making money in SEPTEMBER. They told me at the end of December.

All in all, CPP screws over all of its workers. It’s a typical top-down structure where the more the little guy loses out, the more the fat cat executives make out of it.

 

ARE YOU A COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS FRANCHISE OWNER OR PARENT OF A CPP FRANCHISEE?
ARE YOU A COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS CUSTOMER?
PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Contact UnhappyFranchisee.com

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COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS: Great Opportunity or Franchise Scam?

The College Pro Painters franchise opportunity seems like a brilliant idea:  a program that gives college students and recent graduates the training, systems, branding and guidance they need to build their own successful, profitable seasonal house painting businesses. 

The idea seems to be a win-win for everyone:  Homeowners get a quality, reliable paint job at a reasonable price and students not only earn good money, but gain invaluable business, management and entrepreneurial skills and experience.

According to the College Pro Painters franchise website directed at prospective franchisees:

… no other experience can provide you with the exceptional leadership and management training that helps you stand out now and in life after college. College Pro is the largest and most successful student painting company in North America because it provides a challenging, real-life business experience that inspires excellence. You‘re already working on your education in school, but this summer learn the tools you will need in order to make and manage money, run your own business and gain the self-confidence you will need for any future career…

Each summer we select over 700 driven, enthusiastic young entrepreneurs across North America to run their own business from more than 25,000 who apply. These students employ another 7,000 additional workers. All of them represent a brand recognized throughout North America, so we are particular about who enters the system – and supportive of those we choose. Find out what franchise managers say about how a summer job with College Pro can help you to meet tons of new people, make money to help pay your tuition, and learn new skills that can be applied to your future employment endeavors.

However, there are numerous comments on Internet complaint sites that tell a different story.  On the Pissed Consumer website, a parent whose daughter was in the College Pro Painter franchise program calls it a cultish Ponzi scheme:

…College Pro was cult-ish and is run like a Pyramid Scheme.Think about it. The kids are working their butts off bringing in the CASH while a bunch of slackers at the top are raking in the money. "Bonding Sessions" are common-place. Financially, they took over 30% of the profits. That’s over $25,000 from my kid for her working 4 months.

They charge the Franchisees for EVERYTHING at top prices. They even charge the kids $15.00 for a College Pro T-shirt !!! YOU PAY FOR EVERYTHING! Shame on them. They disgust me. I will NEVER use College Pro. They are NOT good leaders or role models for our youth! It’s a greedy company breeding greed and teaching kids to cheat, not trust their loved ones and to lie about the painting skills they have ( 1 day of training).

If your kid wants to do College Pro, stand by them and know that they will work their butts off. There are a very few that make big bucks, but they are really rare. Help them create books, balances their checkbooks – your kids will need you more than ever. Don’t abandon them. They will not be able to do well unless they get REAL help from those that really care about their personal growth and work ethic.

John Doe writes:

Scammers. I was a franchise manager and I was robbed of all my money. I booked 72k and was on my way to my goal of 80k and my GM told me I was only going to recieve something less then 10k. I was pissed so you mean I worked 12-20 hrs a day and take home less then 10k. Bull ***! I just kept thinking they make 70k and I only make 10k. So I quit and sold my book work to other franchise managers so they can make their goals. I was just lucky not to have to pay anything more back to them for quiting like I read other managers have done. I really didnt have anything to owe them besides not fulfilling my goal. Anyways spread the word to kids that CPP *** and is a scam. Dont do it no matter what they say positive about their company

former CPP franchisee writes:

College pro painters is the worst student scam that is legal… the company lies, misleads, threatens, blackmails and on top of that they steal. True facts: if you sell anything under 75K your going to make nothing. There is NO guarantee of making any money! Example on a 50K business you will make 3000$ for working 70h a week for 6 months (1,78$ per hour). Total SCAM!

It isn’t really 24% royalty its more like 35% with all the hidden cost you pay on each job you book. Think about it 35% CPP charges 35% labour 15% supplies if your lucky you be left with maybe 15% to pay for your car, marketing, equipment. Don’t forget the 6000$ charge for what they call recoverables.

In total on a 50K biz they take 25K. They will take everything you have! If your thinking of becoming a franchisee it will be a mistake of a life time. You have greater chances of making money by starting your own company and make 45-50% of the sale and not 10-15% like with college pro!

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE COLLEGE PRO PAINTERS FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY?  WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.